The use of composites in primary structure in aerospace applications is limited today because of the relatively high cost. A significant contribution to the total cost is the assembly cost where the precured composite elements are assembled, drilled, and fastened. The necessary design for mechanical fastening complicates the structure, especially in thin sections, because of the need for access to both sides of the bond line.
While composites might be adhesively bonded, cocured, or welded, these connecting processes generally produce bonds that rely upon the resin matrix for strength. The bond line lacks any reinforcing material to help with load transfer. These bonds generally have modest strength, and are susceptible to disbonding with shock impact or other "out of plane" forces affecting the assembly. Such forces often arise in environments prone to vibration.
Composite Manufacturing
Fiber-reinforced organic resin matrix composites have a high strength-to-weight ratio (specific strength) or a high stiffness-to-weight ratio (specific stiffness) and desirable fatigue characteristics that make them increasingly popular as a replacement for metal in aerospace applications where weight, strength, or fatigue is critical. Thermoplastic or thermoset organic resin composites would be more economical with improved manufacturing processes that reduced touch labor and forming time.
Prepregs combine continuous, woven, or chopped reinforcing fibers with an uncured matrix resin, and usually comprise fiber sheets with a thin film of the matrix. Sheets of prepreg generally are placed (laid-up) by hand or with fiber placement machines directly upon a tool or die having a forming surface contoured to the desired shape of the completed part or are laid-up in a flat sheet which is then draped and formed over the tool or die to the contour of the tool. Then the resin in the prepreg lay up is consolidated (i.e. pressed to remove any air, gas, or vapor) and cured (i.e., chemically converted to its final form usually through chain-extension or fused into a single piece) in a vacuum bag process in an autoclave (i.e., a pressure oven) to complete the part.
The tools or dies for composite processing typically are formed to close dimensional tolerances. They are massive, must be heated along with the workpiece, and must be cooled prior to removing the completed part. The delay caused to heat and to cool the mass of the tools adds substantially to the overall time necessary to fabricate each part. These delays are especially significant when the manufacturing run is low rate where the dies need to be changed frequently, often after producing only a few parts of each kind. An autoclave has similar limitations; it is a batch operation.
In hot press forming, the prepreg is laid-up to create a preform, which is bagged (if necessary), and placed between matched metal tools that include forming surfaces to define the internal, external, or both mold lines of the completed part. The tools and composite preform are placed within a press and then the tools, press, and preform are heated.
The tooling in autoclave or hot press fabrication is a significant heat sink that consumes substantial energy. Furthermore, the tooling takes significant time to heat the composite material to its consolidation temperature and, after curing the composite, to cool to a temperature at which it is safe to remove the finished composite part.
As described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,657,717 a flat composite prepreg panel was sandwiched between two metal sheets made from a superplastically formable alloy, and was formed against a die having a surface precisely contoured to the final shape of the part.
Attempts have been made to reduce composite fabrication times by actively cooling the tools after forming the composite part. These attempts have shortened the time necessary to produce a composite part, but the cycle time for heating and cooling remains long. Designing and making tools to permit their active cooling also increases their cost.
Boeing described a process for organic matrix forming and consolidation using induction heating in U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,227. There, Boeing laid up prepregs in a flat sheet sandwiched between aluminum susceptor face sheets. The face sheets were susceptible to heating by induction and formed a retort to enclose the prepreg preform. To ensure an inert atmosphere around the preform during curing and to permit withdrawing volatiles and outgassing during the consolidation, the face sheets are welded around their periphery. Such welding unduly increases the preparation time and the cost for part fabrication. It also ruined the face sheets (i.e., prohibited their reuse which added a significant cost penalty to each part fabricated with this approach). Boeing described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,599,472 a technique that readily and reliably sealed the face sheets of the retort without the need for welding and permitted reuse of the face sheets in certain circumstances. This "bag-and-seal" technique applies to both resin composite and metal processing.
2. Processing in an Induction Press
The dies or tooling for induction processing are ceramic because a ceramic is not susceptible to induction heating and, preferably, is a thermal insulator (i.e., a relatively poor conductor of heat). Ceramic tooling is strengthened and reinforced internally with fiberglass rods or other appropriate reinforcements and externally with metal or other durable strongbacks to permit it to withstand the temperatures and pressures necessary to form, to consolidate, or otherwise to process the composite materials or metals. Ceramic tools cost less to fabricate than metal tools of comparable size and have less thermal mass than metal tooling, because they are unaffected by the induction field. Because the ceramic tooling is not susceptible to induction heating, it is possible to embed induction heating elements in the ceramic tooling and to heat the composite or metal retort without significantly heating the tools. Thus, induction heating can reduce the time required and energy consumed to fabricate a part.
While graphite or boron fibers can be heated directly by induction, most organic matrix composites require a susceptor in or adjacent to the composite material preform to achieve the necessary heating for consolidation or forming. The susceptor is heated inductively and transfers its heat principally through conduction to the preform or workpiece that, in our prior work, is sealed within the susceptor retort. Enclosed in the metal retort, the workpiece does not experience the oscillating magnetic field which instead is absorbed in the retort sheets. Heating is by conduction from the retort to the workpiece.
Induction focuses heating on the retort (and workpiece) and eliminates wasteful, inefficient heat sinks. Because the ceramic tools in our induction heating workcell do not heat to as high a temperature as the metal tooling of conventional, prior art presses, problems caused by different coefficients of thermal expansion between the tools and the workpiece are reduced. Furthermore, Boeing's induction heating press is energy efficient because significantly higher percentages of input energy go to heating the workpiece than occurs with conventional presses. The reduced thermal mass and ability to focus the heating energy permits change of the operating temperature rapidly which improves the products produced. Finally, the shop environment is not heated as significantly from the radiation of the large thermal mass of a conventional press. The shop is a safer and more pleasant environment for the press operators.
In induction heating for consolidating and forming organic matrix composite materials, Boeing generally places a thermoplastic organic matrix composite preform of PEEK or ULTEM, for example, within the metal susceptor envelope (i.e., retort). These thermoplastics have a low concentration of residual volatile solvents and are easy to use. The susceptor face sheets of the retort are inductively heated to heat the preform. Consolidation and forming pressure consolidate and, if applicable, form the preform at its curing temperature. The sealed susceptor sheets form a pressure zone in the retort in a manner analogous to conventional vacuum bag processes for resin consolidation. The retort is placed in an induction heating press on the forming surfaces of dies having the desired shape of the molded composite part. After the retort and preform are inductively heated to the desired elevated temperature, differential pressure (while maintaining the vacuum in the pressure zone around the preform) across the retort which functions as a diaphragm in the press forms the preform against the die into the desired shape of the completed composite panel.
The retort often includes three, stacked susceptor sheets sealed around their periphery to define two pressure zones. The first pressure zone surrounds the composite panel/preform or metal workpiece and is evacuated and maintained under vacuum. The second pressure zone is pressurized (i.e., flooded with gas) at the appropriate time to help form the composite panel or workpiece. The shared wall of the three layer sandwich that defines the two pressure zones acts as the diaphragm.
Boeing can perform a wide range of manufacturing operations in its induction heating press. These operations have optimum operating temperatures ranging from about 350.degree. F. (175.degree. C.) to at least about 1850.degree. F. (1010.degree. C.). For each operation, Boeing usually holds the temperature relatively constant for several minutes to several hours to complete the operations. While temperature can be controlled by controlling the input power fed to the induction coil, a better and simpler way capitalizes on the Curie temperature. Judicious selection of the metal or alloy in the retort's susceptor face sheets avoids excessive heating irrespective of the input power. With improved control and improved temperature uniformity in the workpiece, Boeing produces better products. The method capitalizes on the Curie temperature phenomenon to control the absolute temperature of the workpiece and to obtain substantial thermal uniformity in the workpiece by substantially matching the Curie temperature of the susceptor to the desired temperature of the induction heating operation being performed. This temperature control method is explained in greater detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,723,849 or 5,728,309.
3. Thermoplastic Welding
Three major joining technologies exist for aerospace composite structure: mechanical fastening; adhesive bonding; and welding. Both mechanical fastening and adhesive bonding are costly, time consuming assembly steps that introduce excess cost even if the parts that are assembled are fabricated from components produced by an emerging, cost efficient process. Mechanical fastening requires expensive hole locating, drilling, shimming, and fastener installation, while adhesive bonding often requires complicated surface pretreatments.
In contrast, thermoplastic welding, which eliminates fasteners, joins thermoplastic composite components at high speeds with minimum touch labor and little, if any, pretreatments. A conventional welding interlayer tape (compromising the susceptor and surrounding thermoplastic resin either coating the susceptor or sandwiching it) also can simultaneously take the place of shims required in mechanical fastening. As such, composite welding promises to be an affordable joining process. For "welding" a combination of thermoplastic and thermoset composite parts together, the resin that the susceptor melts functions as a hot melt adhesive. If fully realized, thermoplastic-thermoset bonding will further reduce the cost of composite assembly.
There is a large stake in developing a successful induction welding process. Its advantages versus traditional composite joining methods are:
reduced parts count versus fasteners PA1 minimal surface preparation, in most cases a simple solvent wipe to remove surface contaminants PA1 indefinite shelf life at room temperature PA1 short process cycle time, typically measured in minutes PA1 enhanced joint performance, especially hot/wet and fatigue PA1 permits rapid field repair of composites or other structures. PA1 (a) applying a sheet of thermoplastic resin on a prefabricated part or prepreg layup to make the surface resin rich in the location of the intended bond line; PA1 (b) overlaying a susceptor on the thermoplastic sheet; and PA1 (c) curing the assembly under suitable heat and pressure to form the detail with the desired, integral bond line susceptor in a resin rich zone.
There is little or no loss of bond strength after prolonged exposure to environmental influences.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,450 describes a method to spot weld graphite fiber reinforced PEEK composites using a pair of electrodes. After roughening the surfaces of the prefabricated PEEK composites in the region of the bond, Burke placed a PEEK adhesive ply along the bond line, applied a pressure of about 50-100 psig through the electrodes, and heated the embedded graphite fibers by applying a voltage in the range of 20-40 volts at 30-40 amps for approximately 5-10 seconds with the electrodes. Access to both sides of the assembly was required in this process which limited its application.
Prior art disclosing thermoplastic welding with induction heating is illustrated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,966,402 and 4,120,712. In these patents, conventional metallic susceptors are used and have a regular pattern of openings of traditional manufacture. Achieving a uniform, controllable temperature in the bond line, which is crucial to preparing a thermoplastic weld of adequate integrity to permit use of welding in aerospace primary structure, is difficult with those conventional susceptors.
Thermoplastic welding is a process for forming a fusion bond between two faying thermoplastic faces of two parts. A fusion bond is created when the thermoplastic on the surface of the two thermoplastic composite parts is heated to the melting or softening point and the two surfaces are brought into contact, so that the molten thermoplastic mixes. The surfaces are held in contact while the thermoplastic cools below the softening temperature.
The same process parameters apply to hot melt thermoplastic adhesive bonds between prefabricated thermoset composite bonds. Simple as the thermoplastic welding process sounds, it is difficult to perform reliably and repeatably in a real factory on full-scale parts to build a large structure such as an airplane wing box. One difficulty is heating the bond line properly without overheating the entire structure. It also is difficult to achieve intimate contact of the faying surfaces of the two parts at the bond line during heating and cooling because of (1) the normal imperfections in the flatness of composite parts, (2) thermal expansion of the thermoplastic during heating to the softening or melting temperature, (3) flow of the thermoplastic out of the bond line under pressure (i.e., squeeze out), and (4) contraction of the thermoplastic in the bond line during cooling.
The exponential decay of the strength of magnetic fields dictates that, in induction welding processes, the susceptible structure closest to the induction coil will be the hottest, since it experiences the strongest field. Therefore, it is difficult to obtain adequate heating at the bond line between two graphite or carbon fiber reinforced resin matrix composites relying on the susceptibility of the fibers alone as the source of heating in the assembly. For the inner plies to be hot enough to melt the resin, the outer plies closer to the induction coil and in the stronger magnetic field are too hot. The matrix resin in the entire piece of composite melts. The overheating results in porosity in the product, delamination, and, in some cases, destruction or denaturing of the resin. To avoid overheating of the outer plies and to insure adequate heating of the inner plies, we use a susceptor of significantly higher conductivity than the fibers to peak the heating selectively at the bond line. An electromagnetic induction coil heats a susceptor to melt and cure a thermoplastic resin (also sometimes referred to as an adhesive) to bond the elements of the assembly together.
The current density in the susceptor may be higher at the edges of the susceptor than in the center because of the nonlinearity of the coil, such as occurs when using a cup core induction coil like that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,037. Overheating the edges of the assembly can result in underheating the center, either condition leading to inferior welds because of non-uniform curing. It is necessary to have an open or mesh pattern in the susceptor embedded at the bond line to allow the resin to create the fusion bond between the composite elements of the assembly when the resin heats and melts.
a. Moving coil welding processes
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,511, Boeing described a tailored susceptor for approaching the desired temperature uniformity. This susceptor, designed for use with the cup coil of U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,037, relied upon carefully controlling the geometry of openings in the susceptor (both their orientation and their spacing) to distribute the heat evenly. The susceptor had a regular array of anisotropic, diamond shaped openings with a ratio of the length (L) to the width (W) greater than 1. This susceptor produced a superior weld by producing a more uniform temperature than obtainable using a susceptor having a similar array, but one where the L/W ratio was one. Changing the length to width ratio (the aspect ratio) of the diamond-shaped openings in the susceptor produced a large difference in the longitudinal and transverse conductivity in the susceptor, and, thereby, tailored the current density within the susceptor. A tailored susceptor having openings with a length (L) to width (W) ratio of 2:1 has a longitudinal conductivity about four times the transverse conductivity. In addition to tailoring the shape of the openings to tailor the susceptor, Boeing altered the current density in regions near the edges by increasing the foil density (i.e., the absolute amount of metal). Increasing the foil density along the edge of the susceptor increases the conductivity along the edge and reduces the current density and the edge heating. Boeing increased foil density by folding the susceptor to form edge strips of double thickness or by compressing openings near the edge of an otherwise uniform susceptor. These susceptors were difficult to reproduce reliably. Also, their use forced careful placement and alignment to achieve the desired effect.
The tailored susceptor was designed to use with the cup coil of U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,037, where the magnetic field is strongest near the edges because the central pole creates a null at the center. Therefore, the tailored susceptor was designed to counter the higher field at the edges by accommodating the induced current near the edges. The high longitudinal conductivity encouraged induced currents to flow longitudinally.
The selvaged susceptor for thermoplastic welding which is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,508,496 controls the current density pattern during eddy current heating by an induction coil to provide substantially uniform heating to a composite assembly and to insure the strength and integrity of the weld in the completed part. This susceptor is particularly desirable for welding ribs between prior welded spars using an asymmetric induction coil (described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,220, which we incorporate by reference), because it provides a controllable area of intense, uniform heating under the poles of the coil, a trailing region with essentially no heating, and a leading region with minor preheating.
Boeing achieved better performance (i.e., more uniform heating) in rib welding by using a selvaged susceptor having edge strips without openings. The resulting susceptor, then, has a center portion with a regular pattern of openings and solid foil edges, referred to as selvage edge strips. The susceptor is embedded in a thermoplastic resin to make a susceptor/resin tape that is easy to handle and to use in preforming the composite pieces prior to welding. Also, with a selvaged susceptor, the impedance of the central portion should be anisotropic with a lower transverse impedance than the longitudinal impedance. Here, the L/W ratio of diamond shaped openings should be less than or equal to one. With this selvaged susceptor in the region immediately under the asymmetric induction work coil, current flows across the susceptor to the edges where the current density is lowest and the conductivity, highest.
Generally, the selvaged susceptor is somewhat wider than normal so that the selvage edge strips are not in the bond line. Boeing sometimes removes the selvage edge strips after forming the weld, leaving only a perforated susceptor foil in the weld. This foil has a relatively high open area fraction.
Another difficulty remaining in perfecting the thermoplastic welding process for producing large scale aerospace structures in a production environment involved control of the surface contact of the faying surfaces of the two parts to be welded together. The timing, intensity, and schedule of heat application is controlled so the material at the faying surfaces is brought to and maintained within the proper temperature range for the requisite amount of time for an adequate bond to form. Intimate contact is maintained while the melted or softened material hardens in its bonded condition.
Large scale parts such as wing spars and ribs, and the wing skins that are bonded to the spars and ribs, are typically on the order of 20-30 feet long at present, and potentially as much as 100 feet in length when the process is perfected for commercial transport aircraft. Parts of this magnitude are difficult to produce with perfect flatness. Instead, the typical part will have various combinations of surface deviations from perfect flatness, including large scale waviness in the direction of the major length dimension, twist about the longitudinal axis, dishing or sagging of "I" beam flanges, and small scale surface defects such as asperities and depressions. These irregularities interfere with full surface area contact between the faying surfaces of the two parts and actually result in surface contact only at a few "high points" across the intended bond line. Applying pressure to the parts to force the faying surfaces into contact achieves additional surface contact, but full intimate contact is difficult or impossible to achieve in this way. Applying heat to the interface by electrically heating the susceptor in connection with pressure on the parts tends to flatten the irregularities further, but the time needed to achieve full intimate contact with the use of heat and pressure is excessive, can result in deformation of the top part, and tends to raise the overall temperature of the "I" beam flanges to the softening point, so they begin to yield or sag under the application of the pressure needed to achieve a good bond.
Boeing's multipass thermoplastic welding process described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,684 (which we incorporate by reference) enables a moving coil welding process to produce continuous or nearly continuous fusion bonds over the full area of the bond line. The result is high strength welds produced reliably, repeatably, and with consistent quality. This process produces improved low cost, high strength composite assemblies of large scale parts fusion bonded together with consistent quality. It uses a schedule of heat application that maintains the overall temperature of the structure within the limit in which it retains its high strength. Therefore, it does not require internal tooling to support the structure against sagging which otherwise could occur when the bond line is heated above the high strength temperature limit. The process also produces nearly complete bond line area fusion on standard production composite parts having the usual surface imperfections and deviations from perfect flatness. The multipass welding process eliminates fasteners and the expense of drilling holes, inspecting the holes and the fasteners, inspecting the fasteners after installation, sealing between the parts and around the fastener and the holes; reduces mismatch of materials; and eliminates arcing from the fasteners.
In the multipass process, an induction heating work coil is passed multiple times over a bond line while applying pressure in the region of the coil to the components to be welded, and maintaining the pressure until the resin hardens. The resin at the bond line is heated to the softening or melting temperature with each pass of the induction work coil and pressure is exerted to flow the softened/melted resin in the bond line and to reduce the thickness of the bond line. The pressure improves the intimacy of the faying surface contact with each pass to improve continuity of the bond. The total time at the softened or melted condition of the thermoplastic in the faying surfaces is sufficient to attain deep interdiffusion of the polymer chains in the materials of the two faying surfaces throughout the entire length and area of the bond line. The process produces a bond line of improved strength and integrity in the completed part. The total time of the faying surfaces at the melting temperature is divided into separate time segments which allows time for the heat in the interface to dissipate without raising the temperature of the entire structure to the degree at which it loses its strength and begins to sag. The desired shape and size of the final assembly is maintained.
A structural susceptor includes fiber reinforcement within the weld resin to alleviate residual tensile strain otherwise present in an unreinforced weld. This susceptor includes alternating layers of thin film thermoplastic resin sheets and fiber reinforcement (usually woven fiberglass fiber) sandwiching the conventional metal susceptor that is embedded in the resin. While the number of total plies in this structural susceptor is usually not critical, Boeing prefers to use at least two plies of fiber reinforcement on each side of the susceptor. This structural susceptor is described in greater detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,717,191, which we incorporate by reference.
The structural susceptor permits gap filling between the welded composite laminates which tailors the thickness (number of plies) in the structural susceptor to fill the gaps, thereby eliminating costly profilometry of the faying surfaces and the inherent associated problem of resin depletion at the faying surfaces caused by machining the surfaces to have complementary contours. Standard manufacturing tolerances produce gaps as large as 0.120 inch, which are too wide to create a quality weld using the conventional susceptors.
It is easy to tailor the thickness of the structural susceptor to match the measured gap by scoring through the appropriate number of plies of resin and fiber reinforcement and peeling them off. In doing so, a resin rich layer will be on both faying surfaces and this layer should insure better performance from the weld.
b. Fixed coil induction welding
Thermoplastic welding using Boeing's induction heating workcell differs from the moving coil processes because of the coil design and resulting magnetic field. The fixed coil workcell presents promise for welding at faster cycle times than the moving coil processes because it can heat multiple susceptors simultaneously. The fixed coil can reduce operations to minutes where the moving coil takes hours. The keys to the process, however, are achieving controllable temperatures at the bond line in a reliable and reproducible process that assures quality welds of high bond strength. The fixed coil induces currents to flow in the susceptor differently from the moving coils and covers a larger area. Nevertheless, proper processing parameters permit welding with the induction heating workcell using a susceptor at the bond line.
Another advantage with the fixed coil process is that welding can occur using the same tooling and processing equipment used to consolidate the skin, thereby greatly reducing tooling costs. Finally, the fixed coil heats the entire bond line at one time to eliminate the need for shims that are currently used with the moving coil. To control the temperature and to protect against overheating, "smart" susceptors as a retort or as the bond line susceptor material or both are used.
The need for a susceptor in the bond line poses many obstacles to the preparation of quality parts. The metal which is used because of its high susceptibility differs markedly in physical properties from the resin or fiber reinforcement so dealing with it becomes a significant issue. The reinforced susceptor of overcomes problems with conventional susceptors by including the delicate metal foils (0.10-0.20 inch wide.times.0.005-0.010 inch thick; preferably 0.10.times.0.007 inch) in tandem with the warp fibers of the woven reinforcement fabric. The weave fibers hold the foils in place longitudinally in the fabric in electrical isolation from each other yet substantially covering the entire width of the weld surface while still having adequate space for the flow and fusion of the thermoplastic resin. Furthermore, in the bond line, the resin can contact, wet, and bond with the reinforcing fiber rather than being presented with the resinphilic metal of the conventional systems. There will be a resin-fiber interface with only short runs of a resin-metal interface. The short runs are the length of the diameter of two weave fibers plus the spatial gap between the weave fibers, which is quite small. Thus, the metal is shielded within the fabric and a better bond results. In this woven arrangement to foil can assume readily the contour of the reinforcement. Finally, the arrangement permits efficient heat transfer from the foil to the resin in the spatial region where the bond will focus.
The strength and durability of adhesive bonds or thermoplastic welds connecting composite structure is improved, however, by adding Z-pin mechanical reinforcement to the bond line.
4. Z-Pin Reinforcement
First, some general discussion about the benefits of Z-pins.
Composite sandwich structures having resin matrix skins or face sheets adhered to a honeycomb or foam core are used in aerospace, automotive, and marine applications for primary and secondary structure. The face sheets typically are reinforced organic matrix resin composites made from fiberglass, carbon, ceramic, or graphite fibers reinforcing a thermosetting or thermoplastic matrix resin. The face sheets carry the applied loads, and the core transfers the load from one face sheet to the other or absorbs a portion of the applied load. In either case, it is important that all layers of the structure remain rigidly connected to one another. Noise suppression sandwich structure or sandwich structures for other applications are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,861, which we also incorporate by reference.
Keeping the face sheets adhered to the foam is problematic. The most common source of delamination stems from a relatively weak adhesive bond that forms between the face sheets and the foam core. That is, pulloff strength of the face sheets in shear is low. Efforts to strengthen the bond have generally focused on improving the adhesive, but those efforts have had limited success.
Delamination can arise from differences in the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of the different material layers. As a result, as temperatures oscillate, the face sheet or foam may expand or contract more quickly than its adjoining layer. In addition to causing layer separation, CTE differences can significantly distort the shape of a structure, making it difficult to maintain overall dimensional stability. Conventional sandwich structure optimizes the thickness of a structure to meet the weight and/or space limitations of its proposed application. Sandwich structures are desirable because they are usually lighter than solid metal or composite counterparts, but they may be undesirable if they must be larger or thicker to achieve the same structural performance. Providing pass-throughs (i.e., holes), which is relatively easy in a solid metal structure by simply cutting holes in the desired locations, is more difficult in a composite sandwich structure because holes may significantly reduce the load carrying capability of the overall structure.
Foster-Miller has been active in basic Z-pin research. U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,776 describes a technique for placing Z-pins in composite laminates involves heating and softening the laminates with ultrasonic energy with a pin insertion tool which penetrates the laminate, moving fibers in the laminate aside. The pins are inserted either when the insertion tool is withdrawn or through a barrel in the tool prior to its being withdrawn. Cooling yields a pin-reinforced composite. U.S. Pat. No. 4,808,461 describes a structure for localized reinforcement of composite structure including a body of thermally decomposable material that has substantially opposed surfaces, a plurality of Z-pin reinforcing elements captured in the body and arranged generally perpendicular to one body surface. A pressure plate (i.e., a caul plate) on the other opposed body surface drives the Z-pins into the composite structure at the same time the body is heated under pressure and decomposes. We incorporate U.S. Pat. No. 4,808,461 and 5,186,776 by reference.
A need exists for a method to form a sandwich structure that (1) resists distortion and separation between layers, in particular, separation of the face sheets from the core; (2) maintains high structural integrity; (3) resists crack propagation; and (4) easily accommodates the removal of portions of core, as required by specific applications. The method should allow the structure to be easily manufactured and formed into a variety of shapes. In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/582,297 (which we incorporate by reference), Childress described such a method of forming a pin-reinforced foam core sandwich structure. Face sheets of uncured fiber-reinforced resin (i.e., prepreg or B-stage thermoset) are placed on opposite sides of a foam core. The core has at least one compressible sublayer and contains a plurality of Z-pins spanning the foam between the face sheets. Childress inserted the Z-pins into the face sheets during autoclave curing of the face sheet resin when a compressible sublayer is crushed and the back pressure applied trough the caul plate or other suitable means drives the Z-pins into one or both of the face sheets to form a pin-reinforced foam core sandwich structure. By removing some of the foam core by dissolving, eroding, melting, drilling, or the like to leave a gap between the face sheets, he produced his corresponding column core structure.
The foam core generally is itself a sandwich that includes a high density foam sublayer, and at least one low density, compressible or crushable foam sublayer. The preferred arrangement includes a first and second low density foam sublayer sandwiching the high density sublayer. The Z-pins are placed throughout the foam core in a regular array normal to the surface or slightly off-normal at an areal density of about 0.375 to 1.50% or higher, as appropriate, extending from the outer surface of the first low density foam sublayer through to the outer surface of the second low density foam sublayer. Expressed another way with respect to the arrangement of the pins, there are 200 or more pin/inch.sup.2. Preferably, the foam sublayers are polyimide or polystyrene, the Z-pins are stainless steel or graphite, and the face sheets are fiber-reinforced, partially cured or precured thermosetting or thermoplastic resin composites.
In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/235,594, Hoopingarner et al. describe a honeycomb core composite sandwich panel having a surrounding border element (i.e., a "closeout") made of rigid foam board. The two planar faces of the rigid foam board are embossed or scored with a scoring pattern of indentations usually in the form of interlinked equilateral triangles. The scoring is sufficiently deep numerous to provide escape paths for volatiles generated inside the panel during curing and bonding of the resin in the face sheets to the honeycomb core and peripheral foam. The scoring prevents the development of excessive pressure between the face sheets in the honeycomb core that otherwise would interfere with the bonding. We incorporate this application by reference.
Rorabaugh and Falcone discovered two ways to increase the pulloff strength in foam core sandwich structure. First, they form resin fillets around the fiber/resin interfaces at the contact faces of the foam core by dimpling the foam to create a fillet pocket prior to resin flow during curing. Second, they arrange the pins in an ordered fashion such as a tetrahedral configuration or a hat section configuration. In tetrahedral or hat section configurations, the pins not only provide a tie between the two skins but they also provide miniature structural support suited better for load transfer than normal or random off-normal (interlaced) or less ordered pin configurations. With ordering of the pins, they produce anisotropic properties. More details concerning their Z-pin improvements are available in their U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/628,879, which we incorporate by reference.
In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/658,927, Childress introduced Z-pin mechanical reinforcement to the bond line of two or more composite elements by prefabricating cured composite elements that include protruding Z-pins (or stubble) along the element face that will contact the bond line. The stubble is formed by including peel plys on this face during pin insertion using, for example, the process described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/582,297. When connecting the element to other composite structure, Childress removed the peel plys to expose the stubble. Then, he assembled the several elements in the completed assembly to define the bond line. The problem with this Childress method is that it introduces the Z-pins to the detail parts which forces modification of their manufacturing processes and tools. We make a corresponding structure having a thermoplastic welding susceptor integrated into the faying surface of the detail part in the region of the bond line.
Pannell discovered a method to achieve Z-pin reinforcement using ordinary detail parts. Described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/660,060 (which we incorporate by reference), Pannell use precured Z-pin strips to produce the reinforced joining of prefabricated composite detail parts in adhesive bonding, cocuring, or thermoplastic welding processes. The strips have pin stubble projecting on opposed faces. The strips eliminate the need to incorporate the stubble into the detail parts, which would be difficult with manufacturing operations like resin transfer molding (RTM) or fiber placement. The strips are compatible with all major joining processes, are easy to manufacture, are easy to store, and have lasting shelf-life. They can be used with our integrated susceptor detail parts.
Pannell's strips are easy to prepare using a press that includes a silicone lay-up surface instead of the hard surfaces normally used in pin insertion operations in the prior art. The silicone allows controlled penetration of the pins. Once the strips are formed, because the resin is cured, the strips are easy to store without refrigeration or other protection until used in combination with conventional detail parts to fabricate joined composite assemblies.
The thin, flexible strips simplify the placement of the bond and allow the bond line location to be determined in a determinant assembly operation at the time the detail parts are arranged in the assembly jig. The strip bends to assume the shape of the bond line and can fit a complex curvature. As such, the strips eliminate the need for precise placement of pins in the already expensive, precision detail parts. The ability to define the bond line at the time of assembly using precured parts also greatly simplifies the assembly process over competing processes that require the use of uncured parts.
Following assembly, Childress and Pannell complete the bonding, cocuring or welding using conventional joining techniques. If the stubble is backed by a foam core sandwich structure of the type Childress described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/582,297, the connecting operation might compress or decompose a low density sublayer in the foam to drive the Z-pins deeper into the contacted element along the bond line.
Assemblies having Z-pin mechanical reinforcement are better able to withstand impact shock without peel failure.
The pin insertion processes that Foster-Miller uses or that Childress or Pannell suggest for their research efforts into Z-pin reinforced composites pose two important problems for production scale up. First, by having the foam almost directly on the part separated by only soft thin materials, when the pins penetrate these layers, the resin flows through the holes and saturates the foam and cloth. When you try to peel the foam off, or rather if you can peel the foam off without a secondary machining process, many pins adhere to the breather/foam layers and are pulled out of the laminate. Pulling the pins out creates a loss of control as to the arrangement of pins left in the part, and to the height of each pin.
Second, the foam functions as the guide bushing and is supposed to introduce the pins perpendicular to the plies in the laminate. However, the foam is soft. When the pins hit a fiber in the panel, they take the path of least resistance and go around the fiber. Since the foam offers little support, the pins move instead of the fibers, so they end up being pushed into the panel at various angles. Loss of control occurs as to pin orientation and insertion depth.
Accurately positioning the susceptor at the bond line is difficult, especially for bond lines between complexly curved parts. Therefore, in a fashion analogous to Childress's adding Z-pins to the detail parts along the faying surfaces, we have discovered how to include a susceptor on this surface with or without Z-pins. Alternatively, we can make a Pannell precured strip having a susceptor mesh integrated on one or both of the opposed surfaces. With our integrated susceptor detail parts, we simplify the assembly of complex composite assemblies because the susceptor is carried with one or more of the detail parts.
We can make our detail parts with exposed Z-pins like the Childress detail parts using Avila's pin insertion machine. That machine is described in greater detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/657,859, which we incorporate by reference.
Accurately positioning the susceptor at the bond line remains a problem especially if the bond line forms a complex curvature. By integrating the susceptor into the detail, we fix its relationship to one of the details and know precisely where it will be located relative to the induction coil.